In a Strange Land
by Snowballjane
Summary: T'Pol returns to Vulcan


Sorry: The first time I posted this there were two of my beta's comments left in it. Oops. Hope I removed all of them now. How embarrassing.  
  
In a Strange Land By Jane  
  
Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters etc belong to Paramount. Beta: Taryn Eve. Rating: General. Spoilers: All of season one implied. I'm hoping nothing in Season two has already buggered this up! Notes: Thanks to Patrick for the geology and to startrek.com for being a very useful reference tool. I've invented a lot of detail about Vulcan academia. It's based on what we already know, but my memory's not perfect. I hope there are no major clangers.  
  
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Personal Log - Sub-commander T'Pol June 7 2152  
  
I am attending a scientific conference about time travel on Vulcan. Six months ago such a meeting would have been considered an absolute nonsense. There are still many leading Vulcan scientists who believe this - despite humanity's recent experiences. In two days time I shall present the evidence gathered by the crew of the Enterprise, including myself. I do not believe anyone will be able to ignore the logic of our findings.  
  
I was surprised to find that I suffered a certain amount of physical discomfort in the Vulcan heat. I suppose I have acclimatised to the conditions on Earth and Enterprise more than I had realised.  
  
****  
  
T'Pol concluded her log entry and looked out of the window at the dry, stony Vulcan scenery. Her eyes traced the great sweeping curves of red oxidised basalts - ancient rivers of lava from long extinct volcanoes. In the distance she could see the cores of three of those volcanoes. Towering pillars of rock, volcanic plugs, left behind after hundreds of thousands of years of exposure to the elements had worn away the mountains of softer rocks.  
  
After the Enterprise shuttlepod had dropped her off, T'Pol had been allotted a small room at the university which was in an isolated spot in the wilderness. It was early evening and the conference was not due to open until next morning. There was, as her Starfleet colleagues might put it, time to kill.  
  
She decided to take a walk. As she took the path from the guest accommodation towards the central plaza, students began to emerge from the lecture halls after their day's education. From the Hall of Learning came students carrying books while those spewed out by the Hall of Arts were carrying musical instrument cases. From the School of Defence came young men and women carrying blunted weapons - a beginners class then, noted T'Pol. The students walked with purpose, presumably headed for their evening meals.  
  
T'Pol followed the familiar route to the library. She recalled the ancient pink stone building's importance to her as a student. Every day it had yielded up new information to her hungry mind, still on the cusp of adulthood and complete self-mastery. But more than that, it had also been the best place for both concentration and contemplation.  
  
Outside the library she stopped in front of the statue of the philosopher T'Plana-Hath. T'Pol looked at the stylised stone woman whose face conveyed serenity and confidence. Often when she had taken a short break from 50 hour study sessions she had walked out of the library and rested her strained eyes by looking at the figure. She noticed with a sharp shock that one of T'Plana-Hath's ears was chipped at the top. Vulcan was hardly a place where vandalism took place, perhaps it had been damaged in a recent wind storm. It seemed remiss of the university not to have repaired it.  
  
Her theory appeared to be proven when she reached the library entrance. Several tiles on the entrance canopy were also askew. T'Pol glanced inside. She could see students and librarians moving among the great stacks of books and ancient scrolls. But the library was no place for idle tourists killing time and there was nothing she wanted to research. It would be inappropriate to go in.  
  
Her throat was choked with dry dust. She returned to her room, drank a glass of water to relieve the discomforting thirst and looked over the now familiar evidence.  
  
******  
  
The meeting was convened in the Hall of Learning and scientists from the university and far beyond flocked in. Sakar, who had been the leading thinker in theoretical physics even when T'Pol was one of his students and had since become the overseer of all the sciences, introduced the subject with great deal of formality. He gave a long speech about how time travel was regarded as almost as much of a heresy as long ago ancestors had considered space travel. T'Pol imagined Captain Archer faced with the number of Vulcans in the hall, picturing the demonstrative human tearing his hair out when they refused to listen to him.  
  
The Hall was circular with seats steeply raked downwards towards a table the shape of a cake with a 60 degree slice removed. In the missing wedge there was a simple wooden lectern. The senior academicians - six men and three women - sat around the table. All were at least 200 years old, their brilliant minds as yet undulled by age. All were members of the Scientific Legion of Honour, the highest accolade on Vulcan. Although he was not the oldest Sakar was the most reknowned. Despite the fact that she was a graduate of the university and the conference's main guest speaker, T'Pol was directed to one of the highest seats furthest from the centre.  
  
There were no windows, but the blistering heat of the mid-morning sun still found its way into the room. Perched on a seat at the back of the hall, T'Pol sipped from the water bottle she had brought with her.  
  
The figures seated around the table did not seem uncomfortable in their heavy robes, was she the only one who found the air hot and arid?  
  
The first day of the meeting was to be given over to a review of Vulcan research into time travel in a variety of fields of mathematics and physics. Several people were due to present papers. The tall grey-haired Vertik droned on about recent developments in number theory. His almost motionless upright posture and steady gaze reminded T'Pol of her father when he taught basic meditation to the young children at his school. He could remain a quiet yet commanding presence even in a room full of infants striving to bring their temper tantrums under control. Her parents would be aware that she was on Vulcan for the conference.  
  
T'Pol realised she had lost track of what Vertik was saying and tried to unobtrusively shake herself out of the heat induced stupor. Good, no-one had noticed that she hadn't been paying full attention. She focused on Vertik's words and despite the complexity of the subject, within a few moments had caught up with what he was talking about.  
  
Finally the day's presentations were completed and Sakar rose to close the day's discussions. "Tomorrow we will hear Sub commander T'Pol's findings from her experiences on Enterprise," he began.  
  
Vertik rose to his feet. "Can we really trust the evidence of someone who has made such rash and irrational decisions?" he asked. He spoke dispassionately but his steady gaze was a challenge to the entire room.  
  
"She has defied Vulcan tradition, refused an excellent marriage, chosen to live with these childish humans who imagine that they can build 'time machines'. Not to mention her role in what happened at P'Jem. None of this bodes well for the quality of her research. Her judgement is clearly questionable." His speech over, Vertik folded his grey robes and sat down.  
  
There was a rattle of voices, some in agreement, some disagreeing.  
  
"She is very young. Very inexperienced."  
  
"The evidence is excellent."  
  
"She has allowed her logic to be corrupted by their emotional approach to science."  
  
"She's in the room," said T'Pol, the words leaving her mouth at the same time as she realised that her sarcasm would be utterly lost on the learned men and women in front of her.  
  
"So we see," said Sakar, turning slowly to acknowledge her presence in the back row of the lecture theatre.  
  
T'Pol stood up and calmly addressed the assembled great minds of Vulcan. "Tomorrow I will present the evidence. It will stand or fall on its own merits. Do not allow your prejudices about my age, Vulcan traditions or the abilities of humanity to blind you to this fascinating new avenue of study." She turned her back on them and walked out of the door at the rear of the theatre.  
  
*******  
  
Personal log, June 8 2152  
  
After my outburst in the Hall of Learning I had to attend the conference dinner. It was unfamiliar to eat in silence.  
  
I have often wished that the captain and Commander Tucker would learn to eat without speaking. I have found their frequently inane questioning about the food to be irritating, but I have become accustomed to their dinner table talk. It was necessary to adapt since I eat with them almost every day.  
  
Yet while listening to 30 Vulcans eat, I was almost tempted to start a conversation.  
  
Could Vertik really be right? I am uncomfortable in the Vulcan heat. I want to make conversation at dinner. I make sarcastic comments. I use Terran dates in my personal log. Vertik's comments have brought into focus the possibility that I have indeed changed. Has so much time spent among humans made me lose my grasp of logic? Has life on Enterprise undermined years of training and education? If I am picking up on their habits and mannerisms, what will be next?  
  
Did it start when I chose to become Captain Archer's first officer? Or was my decision to refuse to return to Vulcan and marry Koss the beginning?  
  
Captain Archer once asked me if I was running away because I was afraid of becoming one of them. In the end I did not `run'. At the time I did not consider that I was making a choice to abandon Vulcan. I thought that I simply saw my life on Enterprise as a worthwhile intellectual challenge. Perhaps it was a more significant moment than I then contemplated.  
  
When Tolaris forced me to feel through the mind meld, he was after all only exploring something I had done of my own volition years earlier when I walked out of the Vulcan compound and into that bar.  
  
I find myself uncertain. On Enterprise I know I am Vulcan. It is emphasised in every small difference between myself and the others. But Vertik looked at me with a disdain I have never seen one Vulcan use towards another. Is it possible that I have become an alien on my own world?  
  
*******  
  
T'Pol's fingers crept along the small desk towards her communicator for the third time. Twice she had twitched them back, puzzling over what her subconscious way trying to tell her. This time she allowed herself to make the call.  
  
After a brief greeting Ensign Sato transferred the comm signal to Commander Tucker.  
  
"Hey T'Pol. How's the weather on Vulcan?" The cheerful voice from the comm device sounded as if Trip was in the room beside her rather than light years away where Enterprise was rendezvousing with Earth scientists who had caught the fastest available transport ships in their rush to share in the new found knowledge.  
  
"Dry. I wanted to check a few details before I give the lecture tomorrow."  
  
For ten minutes they ran through the formulas and calculations they had been studying for weeks. "We've already gone over this about a hundred times. What's buggin' you?" asked Trip. T'Pol could hear the concern in his voice.  
  
"Nothing is 'buggin' me'. However the science faculty are even more hostile to the idea than I had anticipated. I want to be absolutely certain that everything is correct," she said.  
  
"Ok then. Good luck tomorrow."  
  
"Mr Tucker, as we have discussed before, luck is an entirely illogical concept," she responded.  
  
"In that case - give 'em hell, T'Pol. Tucker out."  
  
T'Pol poured herself another glass of water and drained it. Then she lit a candle and settled herself cross-legged on the floor to meditate.  
  
*****  
  
T'Pol took a large gulp from the tall tumbler of water and placed it carefully on the lectern before dropping both hands to her sides.  
  
"Before I begin to outline our discoveries I want to acknowledge that I was only one of a team who worked out these ideas," she began. "Much of the work here was done by a human, Charles Tucker, who despite his emotional nature - perhaps even because of it - is an excellent scientist. I also owe much to the bravery and leadership of Captain Archer who along with the rest of the crew of the Enterprise are rapidly demonstrating that humanity has earned its place among the stars."  
  
There was a vague murmuring from the audience at the flowery language. T'Pol noted wryly that this was one of the perils of allowing Trip to co- author speeches to be given to Vulcans. She quickly moved onto the hard science and the audience settled down. Besides the grey robed senior scientists who had attended the previous day's review process, there were at least 20 young Vulcan students in the audience listening with rapt attention.  
  
The questioning after she presented the research was intense, interested and challenging. The scientists wanted every last detail but there was no further discussion of T'Pol's personal abilities. She even spotted Vertik making copious notes. After more than an hour's questioning, she was allowed to sit down while Sakar gave the formal vote of thanks.  
  
The scientists filed out of the lecture hall, each offering their thanks and praise for the presentation, offering platitudes and saying how much they looked forward to pursuing their more theoretical studies of time travel.  
  
When everyone else had left Sakar turned to his former pupil and nodded appraisingly. "Your father expected to hear from you while you were on Vulcan," he said. Then he bowed to her and left.  
  
*****  
  
Personal log, June 9 2152  
  
After the successful lecture I took tea at my parents' house. It was a strange and a rather awkward occasion. I am aware that I no longer know them as I did when their home was also my home. Then I could predict their thoughts and behaviours. Today I caused my mother to spill tea when we both reached for the pot at the same moment.  
  
They are not angry with me for defying them - that would be impossible - but it has increased the distance between us. I told them stories about my life on Enterprise and they appeared to be interested. I introduced them to the green tea from Earth and to my surprise they were both willing to try it, they consider it to be revolting, but they made the effort to taste it.  
  
Perhaps it is not only the members of the physics faculty on Vulcan who are willing to accept new ideas.  
  
*****  
  
T'Pol stood in the weak early morning sunlight holding her small kit bag. It was still hot - at this hour most of the heat came from the ground. She watched the shuttlepod land gently, causing red dust to billow. The side door raised and Mayweather peered out and greeted her with a wave.  
  
"Good morning Sub-commander. Your chariot awaits," he called as the dust began to settle.  
  
"Good morning Mr Mayweather. I am ready to depart." T'Pol ducked as she stepped into the pod. She seated herself in the chair behind the pilot's seat.  
  
"Amazing mountains you've got here. All that red," said Travis running through the pre-take-off sequence.  
  
T'Pol closed her eyes, listened to the young ensign's small talk and felt the pleasant cool of the interior of the shuttlepod on her skin.  
  
"Take us home, Ensign," she said.  
  
The End. 


End file.
